


"You died!"

by writersstareoutwindows



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, but that's the tag that came up so, implied johavi bc this was for a prompt and they didn't specify a ship, johann is spelled with two 'n's i'll fight you, so i didn't want to be too shippy but i love these boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 20:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12395427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstareoutwindows/pseuds/writersstareoutwindows
Summary: Everything is the same, except for the half-inch layer of dust. Everyone is beginning to move on, except this room is still caught half a moment before the apocalypse. Avi spins the gear again before closing it in his fist.He wants to stay here.





	"You died!"

**Author's Note:**

> I used the sentence prompt as the title for this story because that's just a lot less work

No one goes into Johann’s room for weeks after the apocalypse. Magnus is the one who carries him from the Voidfish’s chamber, and Magnus is the one who picks up shards of glass while Avi stands in the corner, holding a trash bag and shaking.

No one goes into Johann’s room, but Avi paces outside it. He was never allowed inside without knocking, but since the door was always closed, he could never tell if Johann was there or not. Then there was the fact that Johann slept like a dead man, and knocking couldn’t wake him up at all, so most of the time Avi just knocked a few times and then sat down until Johann either came back from the Voidfish’s chamber or shuffled out of his room in search of something to eat.

On days when there isn’t so much to do, even with all the rebuilding and rebranding, Avi paces. He never gets as far as touching the door. Sometimes he sits outside with an engineering project in hand. Sometimes he falls asleep there, and no one finds him for hours.

There’s a day when Magnus talks about training dogs. It’s what he wants to do, he says, once the Bureau of Benevolence is on its feet and doesn’t need his help so much. Taako hasn’t been anywhere near the base since the apocalypse, but Merle’s around that day and talks about writing memoirs, or sailing with Davenport, or starting a chain of beachside bars. Carey and Killian laugh, and they’re still holding hands–they probably haven’t let go since the apocalypse. Even Brad, passing by with a clipboard, mentions that he’d like to look into motivational writing, and could he maybe look over Merle’s memoirs?

Avi grins and laughs and tightens a bolt.

It’s slow, it’s so slow, but the world is righting itself. It’s healing, and people are moving on.

He paces down the hallway to Johann’s room. He pauses on the balls of his feet for a full minute, fingers hovering over the doorknob. The air is dusty down here, and the lights need to be replaced.

He falls back on his heels, throws down the unrepaired machinery in his other hand, knocks three times, and opens the door.

He can only open it an inch, because it still feels like intruding. He peers around the edge into the dim space. Motes of sunlight filter through half-drawn curtains beside the bed, which is still unmade. The sheets are tangled underneath a sea of pillows and sheet music. A battered music stand, not as nice as the copper one in the Voidfish’s chambers, stands in the middle of the room, supporting an open journal. The bookshelf is empty, because all the books have spilled onto the floor next to it.

Avi steps inside, and it still feels like intruding. He’s guessing that Johann made him knock so that he could tidy the room before opening the door. Avi hasn’t seen it quite so disorganized before. It looks like Johann’s just rushed out to feed the Voidfish after sleeping in.

Avi thumbs through the journal on the stand. It’s jumbled full of unfinished compositions, loose musical notes, notes to self, and attempts at lyrics that he’s never seen before. As far as Johann told him, he wasn’t much of a poet

There’s a bronze gear lying in between two pages. Avi picks it up and spins it around his finger. Johann took it from the pod bay on a day he spent playing for Avi while he worked.

Everything is the same, except for the half-inch layer of dust. Everyone is beginning to move on, except this room is still caught half a moment before the apocalypse. Avi spins the gear again before closing it in his fist. He wants to stay here.

Johann’s favorite violin is lying on the bed, propped up safely in the pillow sea. The rosewood one–not that Avi really knows the difference from maple or spruce. He only knows because Johann was proud of it. His hand hovers over the familiar, smooth lines. He was definitely not allowed to touch this violin.

But it’s polished and smooth. He pulls a string, just lightly, and the sound vibrates the still air. Avi sinks onto the bed, picks up the violin, and tries to hold it like he watched Johann do a hundred times.

“Hey. I asked you not to touch my instruments.”

Avi jumps so violently that a wave of sheet music flies off the bed.

“Sorry! You died! I thought it wouldn’t–because you died–”

He sets the violin down quickly. Then he freezes. When he looks up, Johann is still standing in front of him.

“Wait a second. You died.”

Johann shifts awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. I, uh. Actually, I came back to get the violin. I didn’t think I’d see anybody.”

He drops his hand and raises his shoulders to his ears. Avi stands up, and it’s awkward, and it shouldn’t be awkward.

“Can I, like—can I touch you, or are you all ghosty?”

Johann’s hand spasms before he holds it up. Avi puts his palm against Johann’s; it’s cold, but solid.

“Huh,” he says. “Weird.”

He drops his hand, then rushes to say, “Sorry to…intrude? I would have knocked–wait, actually, I did. This is just the only place…well, the Voidfish is gone, we had to clear out their room, so now this is the only place…I don’t know.”

They used to have a rhythm. Easy breathing, tuning instruments, whirring machinery. But Johann doesn’t make any sound. He’s cold, and his shoulders are up in that defensive way.

Not everyone is healing. Not everyone can.

“How are you here?” Avi asks.

“Kravitz let me through. Just to get my violin.” Johann’s breath puffs up in front of his face. “We’ve been composing something together, but I missed using my own instruments.”

“Oh, yeah, well–” Avi picks up the rosewood violin “–who wouldn’t like this more than whatever they’ve got in Ghost Town?”

Johann looks at the violin instead of Avi. “I’m not supposed to talk to anyone. I told Kravitz there wouldn’t be anyone down here.”

Avi stares at him before it clicks. But once it does, the rhythm’s back. This was their relationship, back and forth–Johann confiscating Avi’s flask and replacing it with music, Avi dragging him out of bed and to the cafeteria, or sitting with him in the dark when he couldn’t even lift his harp.

“You made sure we saved the world. Can’t the Raven Queen cut you slack for that?”

Avi holds out the violin. Startled, Johann takes it. His shoulders relax a little.

“I mean, Taako’s sister and that Bluejeans guy are actual liches, but they got off scot free! Everyone in the world heard your song. That should probably make you, like, the mayor of Ghost Town.”

Johann smiles, and the rhythm picks up. Pent-up words fall out of Avi’s mouth.

“And saving the world is great and all, but–y'know, screw that. Did you know Davenport sings? I’m not gonna get to hear you accompany that. And if I’m not making sure you eat dinner, sometimes I forget to eat dinner. A lot of times, actually. And do you know how boring it is to reinstall light fixtures without anyone to talk to? I mean, there’s Carey and Killian, but they don’t do improv flute solos. It gets dead quiet at night. I can’t stand it. So like, I’m glad you saved the world, but I’m pissed that you’re dead, and fuck whatever the rules are for death.”

Johann blinks a few times. Now Avi’s shoulders go up as he folds his arms.

“That’s not fair of me, is it? I just miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” Johann picks the bow up off his bedside table and rubs the string between his fingers. “The dying thing wasn’t really fair either.”

“Well, you know how it is. The real genius musicians are never recognized in their lifetime.”

Johann’s laugh makes Avi’s heart a kick drum.

“Do you–?” He doesn’t want to ask. “Do you have to go back?”

“I think so. I mean–rules and stuff. Plus without the Voidfish around, what use am I?”

“Johann. We won because of your song.”

Avi puts his hands on Johann’s shoulders. They finally relax, and Johann looks down, grinning, his head almost against Avi’s chest.

“You should come to the recital. Man, that makes me sound like a ten year old.” Johann looks up. “Like, when Kravitz and I are done with this composition. He could get you to the astral plane.”

“…Could he get me back?”

Johann’s laugh is a puff of cold air. “Yeah, yeah. Just as a visit.”

“I mean, your music _is_ to die for…”

Johann pushes him back. “Yeah, okay, I’m going now. You should also–it’s dinner time, you should go eat.”

Avi goes to the door, but his fingers lock around the frame. When he turns back, Johann is still there.

“This is weird,” Avi says.

Johann nods.

“But–you will take me to your concert? This isn’t–you’re not gonna be just gone again?”

“I don’t really get the rules of being dead, but.” He shrugs. “I did save the world. I’ll see how often I can pull that card.”

Avi laughs. “For sure. Then I’m looking forward to that concert.”

He tries not to look back again. That thought makes him laugh, because isn’t that what moving on is about? It’s only because he knows he doesn’t have to, that he’ll see Johann later.

As he heads down the hall, a few notes float after him. Avi is still grinning after they fall quiet.


End file.
